


In The Summer

by MyLittleDino



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Dialogue Heavy, M/M, highschool!svt is always a blessing, moved from AFF, other characters to be added - Freeform, reupload
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-07
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2019-05-19 06:43:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14868696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyLittleDino/pseuds/MyLittleDino
Summary: In the midst of deciding what to do to defeat the inevitable boredom that summer brings, Jihoon must also work out his feelings towards one of his closest friends, Choi Seungcheol.





	1. .01

“Have you already decided what you’re gonna do when school ends?” Jihoon wonders as he tweaks the prickly grass underneath him between his fingertips. 

Seungcheol grunts beside him, shielding his eyes from the blinding sun above. Jihoon had told him that if he would just sit up against the tree like the former was currently doing, then he wouldn’t have to trouble himself with blinking the brightness away. Although he was now a fourth year, Seungcheol was still too childishly stubborn to listen to “someone who hasn’t even experienced the real world, goddammit.”

“Remember Doyoon?” Seungcheol replies.

Jihoon’s brows scrunch together as he tries to piece together why Seungcheol would bring up his ex-boyfriend out of the blue. “Of course. Hasn’t been long since he left.”

Seungcheol nods, now resorting to drop his hand and close his eyes. “He messaged me a few days back. Told me about the university he wants to attend and recommended it to me. I checked it out online, and I really liked the courses they’re offering. Plus, they have a huge music department and you know me and my music.”

Jihoon hums, slowly processing the information. “Have you applied yet?” He isn’t sure why he feels such a sour taste in his mouth.

“In the process of it,” The older confirms.

Jihoon looks away from Seungcheol even though the latter hasn’t opened his eyes. “It still kinda shocks me that you, Jisoo, and Jeonghan are going off to college already.” A fond smile finds its way onto his face as he reminisces.

A young, baby-faced teen makes his way down the crowded school hall. He keeps his head down as to not attract attention, but his pastel pink hair does the opposite. In his defense, his mother had scored a family discount when she went to retouch her roots. Jihoon and his little sister had already been dragged to the salon, so there was no point in saving the deal for another visit. That day, the three Lees walked out of the salon, one with fresh roots, one with light brown locks, and the last with a blush so bright that it matched his hair.

“I still can’t believe you guys walked up to me and befriended me when I had that atrocious hair,” Jihoon sighs, running his fingers through his now dark brown hair.

“You were special,” Seungcheol chuckles. “You still are, you know. It’s everyday a first year is already known for his composition skills. We just had to snatch you up before anyone else could.”

Jihoon snorted at the remark. “Ah, yes. Because my shitty SoundCloud days were hardly impressive.”

“But you’ve improved,” Seungcheol insists. “That’s all that matters.”

“You have, too,” Jihoon says genuinely.

“If it’s any consolation” Seungcheol begins as he finally sits up and places himself beside Jihoon under the tree. “I thought your pink hair was pretty cute.”

Jihoon bites the inside of his cheek to contain the large grin that threatens to make way. He mutters out a quiet thanks before trying to ease his racing heart.

A comfortable silence settles on them afterward. Together, they sit beneath the huge tree that Seungcheol claims is their spot.

_(“It’s a public park, Cheol.” ___

_“I don’t care; it’s our spot. Now help me carve our initials into this tree.”) ___

A couple minutes pass by -- or maybe it was five or ten; Jihoon could never keep track of time when he was with Seungcheol -- before the quiet is finally broken between them.

“I think you’d like this university, too. If you ever find yourself thinking about where to go once you graduate, you should give this place a shot.”

“You talk like you’ve already been accepted,” Jihoon playfully scoffs. In the back of his mind, he already knows Seungcheol is going to be accepted anyway. There’s absolutely no reason why he wouldn’t be.

“I have a good feeling about this place,” Seungcheol replies. “You ever get that feeling? Where you just know something’s gonna work out?”

“Sometimes,” Jihoon shrugs. “Is it because Doyoon’s gonna be there?”

Seungcheol half-smiles, shaking his head. “We had a nice thing going on, but I think it’s better that we stay just friends. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Jihoon reprimands himself for feeling a surge of relief and satisfaction at hearing these words. He clears his throat. “Ever the wise Choi Seungcheol.”

“I’m an adult now, Ji,” Seungcheol smiles cheekily.

“Just yesterday, you were fighting with Seokmin over some cookies-”

“Hush, child. What’s in the past is in past.” Seungcheol says he presses a finger to Jihoon’s lips.

Jihoon laughs at the action, swatting away the older’s hand while complaining that it tastes like grass. Seungcheol counterattacks by engulfing the younger into a bearhug and sending the both of them to the ground. It isn’t long before the two are rolling around in the grass, their joyful laughter echoing throughout the spacious park.

\---  


**have u told him? ******

********

Jihoon looks at the crumpled piece of paper on his desk. Recognizing the messy scrawl of words, he glances up and finds Soonyoung creepily smiling at him, wiggling his eyebrows up and down. Jihoon’s eyes dart to the teacher. She’s going on and on about something Jihoon had stopped listening to about three minutes ago. It’s probably something along the lines of having a nice summer and making sure not to forget what you’ve learned and blah blah blah. 

_not yet. maybe during the summer. ___

____  


**better do it before it’s too late ******

****  
** **

_he’s got a lot on his plate already. i don’t wanna make it worse. ___

__  
_ _

**isn’t he going to the same university as doyoon? ******

“Lee Jihoon,” The teacher’s voice causes Jihoon to snap his head up abruptly. Her arms are crossed as she stares at him with a bemused expression. “Is there a reason why your note passing is more important than my teaching?”

Jihoon ignores the snickers coming from Soonyoung and Seokmin to his left. “Not at all, Teacher. I’m sorry.” He apologizes.

The teacher harrumphs before resuming her speaking, and Jihoon turns his body to glare his best friend. The other sticks his tongue out as Jihoon flips him the bird.

As soon as class is over, Jihoon wastes no time in racing out of the room. He can feel the pointed looks the teacher was giving him, and he didn’t want to risk the chance of being called to stay after. As he reaches the cafeteria, excited chatter and occasional shouting invading his ears, he sees the majority of his friends grouped up at their usual table. Naturally, he sits beside Seungcheol as the spot was always saved for him anyway. Seungcheol smiles at him before offering the younger a piece of sausage from his chopsticks. Jihoon gladly accepts, allowing the older to feed him. The butterflies that always seem to wake up when he’s around Seungcheol are dancing.

“Jihoon!” Like every other day, Mingyu’s loud voice is the first thing Jihoon hears upon sitting down. “Wonwoo thinks bucket hats are stylish.”

“Because they are!” Wonwoo butts in.

“I think they’re pretty awesome,” Hansol agrees. Beside him, Chan shakes his head disapprovingly. The two second years proceed to exchange a series of weird facial expressions. Jihoon watches them amusedly and bets that they’re going to end up together before the summer ends.

”What do you think?” Mingyu asks Jihoon.

Before Jihoon can answer, another equally booming voice interrupts the flow of conversation. “The life of the party has arrived!” Seungkwan announces as he takes a seat. Behind him, Soonyoung and Seokmin are sharing hushed whispers and giggles over some new inside joke that’s probably really stupid and confusing. Their hands are linked together, and Jihoon can practically feel the envy crawling up his back. He wants something like that for himself.

_(“You will once you tell Seungcheol,” Soonyoung always reminded him.) ___

”Because we are now adults,” Jeonghan says. “It’s only right that we have a huge slumber party at Jisoo’s house to start the summer off correctly.”

”Isn’t that, like, the exact opposite of what adults do?” Seungkwan points out.

”Why does it always have to be at my house?” Jisoo whines.

_”Because _,” Jeonghan drags out. “Your’s is the biggest, and your parents don’t care how loud we get.”__

”Plus your neighbor is super hot,” Minghao adds. Junhui nods vigorously in agreement.

”Speaking of that, Ming Ming told me that it makes him kinda uncomfortable when he can feel you guys staring at him every time you come over.” Jisoo tells them.

”He’ll come around,” Junhui waves his hand dismissively. “And when he does his morning jog around the neighborhood without a shirt on, it’s kinda hard not to stare.” Similar smirks paint his and Minghao’s faces as they both imagine the scene.

”Um, okay,” Jisoo scoots away from the two. He claps his hands together. “Sleepover at my place. Be there with your stuff and everything.”

”Wait,” Seungcheol speaks up for the first time since joining the table. “I might not be able to make it.” The table directs their attention to the oldest. “Doyoon wanted to meet up and show me around the university. Apparently, some teachers wanna meet me.”

”Ooh!” Mingyu coos. “You and Doyoon are gonna fall in love again! I can feel it.” Jihoon’s eye twitches at the comment as he ignores Soonyoung’s worried eyes on him.

”Doyoon and I are just friends, Mingyu,” Seungcheol assures him.

”For now,” Mingyu sings back shaking his head.

”Hey, knock it off,” Soonyoung quietly tells Mingyu. The younger gives Soonyoung a confused look, but the latter’s turned his attention away. Jihoon mentally thanks him, reminding himself to do it in person later.

The rest of the group moves onto the next topic, and Jihoon is left drowning in his thoughts. “Are you okay?” A gentle voice speaks into his right ear. Turning, Jihoon sees Seungcheol smiling at him.

“I’m fine. Just thinking.” Jihoon answers.

”Hey, I’ll try my best to make it to Jisoo’s, alright?”

Jihoon wants to tell Seungcheol that that isn’t why he’s upset, but he nods anyway. The two return to the current conversation at the table. Chan is excitedly blabbering on about the skateboard his mom got him last week.

\---

”Thanks for doing that by the way,” Jihoon says, kicking a pebble. “At lunch.”

”Don’t sweat it, man,” Soonyoung responds. “Wonwoo’s gotta keep Mingyu on a leash sometimes.” The two round the corner, waving at the sweet grandmother who had lost her husband last year. She’s watering her flowers as her equally aged dog slowly walks over to the two students. The loving beast gives them lazy kisses, and they give him head scratches and belly rubs in return.

”I think I’m gonna tell him,” Jihoon states as they get back on their path.

”Yeah?”

”Yeah.”

”That’s good for you,” Soonyoung grins, patting his friend on the back.

”How do you think he’s gonna react?” Jihoon asks.

”I dunno. He’ll probably push you against the wall and kiss you because that’s what he looks like he wants to do half the time.” Soonyoung says seriously. He facade breaks into chortles when Jihoon digs a finger into his ribs. “I dunno.” He repeats once more after he’s calmed down. “Only one way to find out.”

Jihoon nods his head, opting to stay silent the rest of the walk home.

\---

The next two weeks pass by in a breeze, and school is finally over. Just as Jihoon predicted Seungcheol gets accepted into his desired university. As much as he wants to congratulate his friend, Jihoon can’t help but feel something weighing his shoulders down. He can’t pinpoint what it is, but it’s there and it’s driving him up the walls. It just because Seungcheol will be busy doing college things, and he won’t have much time to hang out, Jihoon tries to convince himself.

By the time the final bell rings, signaling the end of the school year, students are already pouring out of the building like a horrific flood. Jihoon tries his best not to get lost in the sea of impatient teens as he makes his way to the front gates. He waits for Soonyoung, slightly growing impatient as each minute passe and his best friend still isn’t there. He was promised a ride to Jisoo’s house, and there was no way in hell he was walking.

”Jihoon!” Someone who definitely wasn’t Soonyoung calls out to him. Jihoon angles his head toward the source of the noise and sees Seungcheol jogging up to him.

”Hey,” He greets the older. “Have you seen Soonyoung?”

”He texted me earlier and said that his mom needed help with some errands. Asked me to take you to Jisoo’s instead.” Jihoon forces himself not to laugh out loud. Soonyoung would rather cut his own arm off than willingly help his mother with groceries the first day of summer.

”I thought you were going to the university?” Jihoon questions.

”I was,” Seungcheol says. “But then I realize that spending time with you was more important.”

Jihoon pretends not to notice the fact that Seungcheol didn’t mention spending time with the rest of the guys and tells the older to lead the way to his car. “Just let me get my things before we go to Jisoo’s.”

Seungcheol drops Jihoon off at his house to let the younger gather his things for their sleepover. Once Jihoon is back in the passenger seat, the older speeds off. They talk about nothing and everything during the drive. The windows are rolled down all the way and the radio’s volume is almost loud enough to be a disturbance to the general public. The two passionately sing and rap to whatever song from Seungcheol’s playlist blasts from the speakers. Jihoon discreetly records Seungcheol when a girl group song comes on, and the older tries his best to mimic the dance move at a stop light. Seungcheol notices but puts on a show anyway. It almost seems like a good idea to tell Seungcheol right then and there. Almost.

By the time everyone arrives at Jisoo’s house, it’s only 4:30 PM. The initial animated conversation and giddiness quickly die down as the thirteen boys fall into a slump. What now? The young men all position themselves in Jisoo’s living room, unsure of what to do next. The TV is on, but it only serves as background noise.

“When I said ‘starting the summer off right,’ this wasn’t what I had in mind,” Jeonghan complains.

”What did you expect?” Hansol boredly replies. “We’re a bunch of broke kids who can’t all fit into Seungcheol’s car.”

”Or his wallet,” Seungcheol makes sure to state. He can already see the gears turning in Seungkwan’s head but is quick to shoot down any possible ideas.

”How about we order some pizza, and we can all agree on a movie?” Wonwoo suggests. Seeing as there’s no other plausible idea, the group decides on which pizza to order and what movie to play.

And that’s how Jihoon finds himself tucked under Seungcheol’s arm, munching away at the crust of his pizza. He managed to eat three before the four pizzas that they had ordered were completely devoured. One movie turned into two, then two turned into five. Now, the guys were watching some foreign movie with questionable subtitles. Jihoon looked around the room. Soonyoung and Seokmin were fast asleep to the surprise of everyone else. Usually, the two were up the latest, sharing exaggerated horror stories under a blanket, their phones’ flashlights adding to the effect.

To his left, Jihoon watched fondly as Hansol and Chan chatter quietly about the movie. Jihoon can see them subtly trying to scoot closer to each other, pinkies barely brushing. To Jihoon’s right, Jisoo is trying his best not to fall asleep. The poor guy’s head is jerking back and forth whenever his eyes slip shut for longer than a second. Jeonghan is too busy shoving his face into a bag of chips to notice his friend’s struggle. Minghao is sound asleep, his blanket covering his entire face. Jihoon would be concerned if not for the fact that Junhui had just kicked Minghao in his sleep, knocking the blanket away. Seungkwan, Mingyu, and Wonwoo are whisper-arguing about something Jihoon knows is pointless.

”If she hates him, why does she want to sleep with him?” Seungcheol asks him.

Jihoon tunes back into the movie, watching as the main actress angrily shoves the male lead against a bed. “I dunno.” He shrugs. “Makes the sex better?”

”What time is it?”

Jihoon reaches over to check his phone. “It is… 1:42 AM.”

”You’re not tired?” Seungcheol wonders. At that moment, Jihoon yawns deeply, stubbornly trying to blink his tiredness away. Seungcheol chuckles softly before pulling the younger down next to him.

”Don’t you wanna finish the movie?” Jihoon’s eyelids are beginning to feel heavy and holding them open proves to be a great task.

”I wasn’t really watching it in the first place,” Seungcheol reasons.

Slowly, Jihoon feels himself slipping into dreamland. The day’s activity finally takes a toll on him, and the warmth from Seungcheol’s embrace is enough to relax him. He may or may not feel a slight pressure against his forehead, but he’s too tired to register anything.

\--- 

Waking up to Seungcheol’s face only inches away from his own is not something Jihoon would have expected, but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t welcome it. He would never admit it out loud, but he’s always imagined himself in this position: Seungcheol being the last thing he sees before falling asleep and the first thing upon waking up.

The only other person who would know his true feelings was Soonyoung. And even then, Jihoon is still confused as to how Soonyoung even figured it out. He didn’t remember ever actually going up to the other and telling him about the massive crush he had on Seungcheol. And he swore he was always careful about his words and actions toward the older. Suddenly, Soonyoung walks up to him one day and tells him that he “knew of Jihoon’s deepest and darkest secret,” and walked away. Jihoon didn’t think much of it, but he noticed Soonyoung would send him this weird smile whenever Seungcheol and him were talking. Or even doing anything somewhat near each other. Three years passed by, and Soonyoung hasn’t said anything to anyone, so Jihoon figured one other person knowing was fine.

Jihoon looks at his phone and decides that it’s way too early to be awake on the first official day of summer. He’s about to snuggle into Seungcheol’s side and go back to sleep when he hears the latter’s phone go off.

Now, Jihoon isn’t one to associate himself with drama or gossip or anything of the sort, but curiosity gets to even the best of people, right? And besides, Seungcheol would do the same. Right? Just _one _look and then Jihoon would go back to sleep. Just one.__

**From: Doyoon ******

**I’ll see you next week for the tour! And don’t forget about our date! ^^  
**

**  
**

****** **

****

****

Jihoon quickly puts the phone down. His mind is racing with a million questions and thoughts. Didn’t Seungcheol say that they were just friends? Friends don’t go on dates with each other! He could Seungcheol like that?

********

********

********** **

********** **

Before Jihoon grows even more agitated, he stops to think. Does he even have the right to get upset about all of this? It’s not like they're together. Jihoon hasn’t even told him about his feelings for goodness sake.

Jihoon lets out a rather loud groan and falls back against his pillow. Seungcheol shifts around next to him, reaching out to the younger and pulling him closer. Jihoon wants to cry.


	2. .02

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's only the first day of summer, and Jihoon already feels drained.

Jihoon could recall exactly how and when he fell for Seungcheol. The situation wasn’t exactly ideal, but he still gets flustered when he thinks about it. 

It was during a game of Truth or Dare, three years ago. Little first year Jihoon and his large group of friends had all gathered in one massive circle on the floor of Doyoon’s living room. The game was meant to be a joke. Immature, teenage boys asking stupid questions and giving out odd dares.

”Seungcheol!” Soonyoung smiles mischievously. “Truth or Dare?”

”You know I’m a real man, right?” The then second-year proudly boasted. “Dare!”

It was almost as if Soonyoung prepared for this. Like the entire game was all leading up to this moment. “I dare you… To kiss Jihoon!”

Jihoon’s eyes widened in disbelief as he gawked at his friend. “What?!”

Wonwoo groaned loudly. “What are we, 5?”

Soonyoung ignored the two, staring straight at Seungcheol. “Do you accept the dare or are you backing down?”

A small flame seemed to ignite in Seungcheol’s eyes. His head whipped to the right, his hard stare piercing through Jihoon. “Come here.” He demanded.

Jihoon shook his head vehemently. “Nuh-uh. No way. You are _not _going to be my first kiss.”__

”It’s a dare, Jihoonie. I gotta do it. My pride is on the line. Seungcheol insisted.

”I don’t care! I’m not gonna let you-” In the middle of his sentence, Seungcheol had grabbed his face and planted a chaste kiss on his lips. It was very short and more like a peck if anything; however, Jihoon was mortified. He brought a hand to his mouth and tried to scrub away the remnants of Seungcheol’s kiss. The other guys all shouted like giddy toddlers, Soonyoung being the loudest.

Funnily enough, this wasn’t when Jihoon started to develop feelings for Seungcheol. In fact, the “Truth or Dare Incident” was what sparked Doyoon and Seungcheol’s relationship. After witnessing the super pathetic kiss, Doyoon couldn’t contain his jealousy. One thing lead to another, and the guys found the new couple making out in the kitchen.

At the time, Jihoon was totally okay with everything. Two of his friends were together, and they were happy, so naturally, he would be happy for them as well. He would even smile whenever he saw the two of them doing couple-y stuff. Holding hands, hugging, quick kisses in between classes.

Jihoon found himself wanting to experience that, too. It’s human nature to feel the desire of having someone to call his own. Waking up and falling asleep to cheesy text messages. Cuddling with someone after a long, stressful day. Seeing Doyoon and Seungcheol fall deeper in love with each other, right in front of his eyes made Jihoon want to pull his hair out. The longer he watched the couple, the more disturbed he became. Being single never bothered him before, so why was he freaking out so much now? Slowly, he realized that he didn’t hate the fact that Seungcheol was showering Doyoon in gifts and kisses. He just despised how it wasn’t him that Seungcheol was so taken with.

\--- 

”Hey,” Soonyoung leans closer to Jihoon. “Have you told him?”

Jihoon shooks his head, taking his lower lip between his teeth. “No, but I did something really bad.”

Soonyoung raised a brow, lowering his voice. “What happened?”

Jihoon could feel the guilt weighing his shoulder down. “I may or may not have read Seungcheol’s texts while he was asleep.”

Soonyoung frowns. “Why would you do that?”

”I don’t know,” Jihoon whimpers. “I just looked at one, and now I feel awful.” The younger buries his face into his hand and let out a pitiful groan.

”Did you find what you were looking for?” Soonyoung inquires.

”I wasn’t look for anything,” Jihoon speaks between his fingers. “It was just a message from Doyoon.”

”What did it say?” Soonyoung slowly asks.

”He told Seungcheol not to forget about their date,”

Soonyoung hears the disheartened tone in Jihoon’s voice and nudges the other. “Hey, maybe it’s just a friendly date. You don’t know anything until Seungcheol says it himself.”

\--- 

A day after Jihoon realized what exactly he was feeling, the denial hit him like a truck. There’s no way he could be falling for one of his closest friends. It had to be infatuation or admiration. Whatever it was, it would pass.

Except it didn’t pass. In fact, these feelings only grew stronger. Whenever they walked beside each other to class, he wanted nothing more than to reach out and connect their hands. And when Seungcheol was being his dorky self just to elicit reactions from their friends, Jihoon would pay more attention to the wide smile that Seungcheol donned than what he actually said in the first place.

He never told anyone about his little crisis. He still hoped that his feelings would just disappear one day. Then Soonyoung came up to him with a shit-eating grin, and Jihoon finally faced the truth.

Over time, it became easier to deal with. Jihoon would dig his fingernails into his palms whenever he wanted to hold Seungcheol’s hand. When Doyoon would lean in for a kiss with the older, Jihoon would look away and pretend his heart didn’t just feel like it broke into a million pieces. He forced himself to move on, no matter how hard it seemed.

It didn’t work.

\--- 

”Are you still going to tell him?” Soonyoung wonders.

”Is there any point?” Jihoon weakly replies.

Soonyoung frowns again, unsure of how to console his best friend. Instead, he ruffles Jihoon’s already tousled hair. “C’mon, man. Don’t think too much about this. It’s the beginning of summer, and I refused to let my best friend spend the entire time moping about someone.”

”But he isn't just someone!” Jihoon cries. “He’s the guy who I’ve practically liked for three years and haven’t done a damn thing about it.”

”Well you don’t have many options then, do you?” Soonyoung sighs. “Either tell him and get it off your chest, or don’t tell him and hypothetically watch him and Doyoon get back together. Like you said, Jihoon, it’s been three years. Do something about it.”

\--- 

Before they broke up, Doyoon and Seungcheol stayed together for two years and a couple of months. They separated without difficulties, and it was almost humorous how simple the entire ordeal was. The two stopped holding hands and kissing each other. The sweet nothings whispered in each other’s ears reverted back to normal conversation. Cute pet names ceased to exist, and couple necklaces vanished.It was as if they never dated to begin with.

Jihoon knew he wasn’t supposed to be glad that they broke up, but that didn’t stop the feeling of hope from spreading throughout his body when he found out that Seungcheol was no longer in a relationship. In his defense, Seungcheol and Doyoon were still good friends after their split, so it’s not like he was elated about their nonexistent post-breakup misery. At least he had the decency to wait a bit before telling Seungcheol about his feelings.

But then his “waiting a bit” turned into waiting nearly another year. In between Doyoon switching schools, due to his father’s job relocation, and Seokmin confessing to Soonyoung, Jihoon still hadn’t uttered a word to Seungcheol about his feelings. He didn’t know what was stopping him. Perhaps it was the possibility of rejection or ruining the friendship between the,. Jihoon would much rather stay quiet than sacrifice the relationship between them. So, he remained silent about the matter and was content with Seungcheol throwing his arm around his shoulder sometimes.

\--- 

”At least let me find out if they’re getting back together,” Jihoon bargains. “If they are, then I’ll do my best to move on, and I promise I won’t mope over him the entire summer. If they aren’t, then I’ll tell him. I swear.” Jihoon puts out his pinky for extra measure.

Soonyoung smiles at his friend’s determination, locking their pinkies together and connecting the pads of their thumbs. “Alright then. Time to find out if he’s up for grabs or not.”

”Wait, what?” Before Jihoon can process what’s going on, he finds himself being pushed into Seungcheol. The latter instinctively reaches out to Jihoon and steadies the younger. He looks down at him in amusement, hands placed on Jihoon’s waist.

“Well good morning, Jihoonie,” Seungcheol’s smile is as gentle as his voice. Jihoon is glad he’s being supported because if not, his legs would have given out, and he would have turned into a pile of mush.

“Morning, Hyung,” He breathes out.

“You wanna let me know why I’m lovingly embracing you so early in the morning?” Seungcheol jokes. He doesn’t move away from Jihoon.

“Early? It’s 1 PM.” Jihoon snorts, bringing his own hands up to rest against Seungcheol’s chest.

“Hey, it’s summer. It’s going to be early until 3 PM.” Seungcheol states, as if he were reciting from a rule book.

Jihoon chuckles and gently pokes the older on his forehead. “Dork.”

“Do you two want us to leave so you can make out or what?” Hansol interrupts them. The two pull away from each other with sheepish smiles.

“Gee, Seungcheol, I don’t think Doyoon is gonna be happy with you,” Mingyu says only half-jokingly.

Seungcheol laughs. “We’re just friends, Mingyu.”

Jihoon looks over at Soonyoung, and the other gives him a thumbs up with a large smile.

Jihoon waits for their friends to go back to their business before he pulls Seungcheol away into Jisoo’s kitchen. He bites his lip, wondering what he should say.

“What’s wrong, Ji? You look a little tense.” Seungcheol says.

Jihoon sighs. “Would you… Be mad at me… If I read one of your text messages while you were asleep?”

Seungcheol’s expression is blank. “Did you read one of my text messages while I was asleep?”

“Will you get mad at me if I did?” Jihoon carefully questions.

“Yeah, probably,” Seungcheol answers.

“Then no,”

Seungcheol laughs at him before he shaking his head. “I’m just kidding, Ji. Look, we’ve all read someone’s texts at one point in time. It’s no big deal.”

Jihoon let out a huge sigh of relief. “Oh good. I thought you’d hate me or something.”

“I could never hate you, Jihoonie. Sure I wouldn’t really want you to do it again, but I don’t hate you.” Seungcheol assures him.

“I promise I won’t ever do it again. It was stupid of me to do it.” Jihoon quickly says. “I won’t do it again.”

“I believe you,” Seungcheol nods. He places a hand on Jihoon’s shoulder and squeezes. “Don’t worry about it.” Jihoon nods and offers a small grin, feeling better about everything. “You wanna tell me what you read, though?”

“It was just… About your date with Doyoon,” Jihoon explains. He tries his best to sound nonchalant about everything, but he’s slowly dying on the inside.

Seungcheol shakes his head, chuckling softly. “That guy, I swear. He’s just messing around. It’s not a date. I just suggested that we get some coffee or something after the tour and he thought I was hitting on him.”

Jihoon feels that burst of hope again. “You don’t like him, do you? Like _that _.”__

“I don’t like Doyoon like that,” Seungcheol firmly states.

”Good,” Jihoon breathes out. When Seungcheol raises a brow at his choice of words, Jihoon backpedals. “To know. That’s good to know.” He laughs nervously before exiting the kitchen and making a beeline for Soonyoung. Seokmin makes a noise of protest when Jihoon not-so-gently shoves him out of the way.

“So you told him?” Soonyoung asks, not caring about the wellbeing of his boyfriend who was now laying on the floor.

“Not yet,” Jihoon says, slightly out of breath.

“Are you kidding me?” Soonyoung groans. “I literally threw you at him!”

“Give me a bit more time,” Jihoon laughs despite everything. “We can’t all have perfect relationships like you and Seokmin.”

“Seokmin and I don’t have a perfect relationship,” Soonyoung flushes, still ignoring his boyfriend who is complaining about the bruise that’s probably on his butt.

“Yeah, but I’m still envious,” Jihoon sighs.

“Don’t be. You’ll get into your own perfect relationship someday,” Soonyoung finally takes notice of Seokmin, holding a hand out which the latter gladly takes. “You just gotta tell him.” He says to Jihoon before direction all attention to Seokmin. He kisses the pout on his boyfriend’s lips away and apologizes for neglecting him.

Jisoo’s mother comes through the front door and announces that she’ll be making breakfast/lunch. Seungkwan and Mingyu volunteer to help and the rest begin folding the blankets that had been laid out. Jihoon remains in his spot, watching Soonyoung and Seokmin. They flow together so naturally, having known each other since middles school. Everyone, even the teachers knew that they would end up together. Soonyoung’s boyfriend was also his best friend and Jihoon thought that that was the best kind of relationship there was.

“Jihoonie,” Seungcheol pulls him out of his daze. “Come make yourself useful, yeah?” He smiles and tosses a heavy blanket at the younger. Curses spew out from Jihoon’s mouth as the momentum knocks him to the ground. He can almost hear the smirk on Seokmin’s face that he just knows is there. Seungcheol cheekily apologizes before helping him up, and they fold the blanket together.

As long as they were like this, Jihoon thinks, he’s okay with talking a bit more time to confess.

**Author's Note:**

> Some of you may be familiar with this story as I've already posted it once before. I apologize to those who were waiting for me to update the story! (It's nearly been a year!) This story is currently undergoing heavy editing, so some of the chapters that have already been posted may not reappear as quickly. Since it is now summer for me, I will do my best to update this fic between work and other events going on. Thank you for reading my story, and I hope you enjoy it!  
> *I'm still not sure if they're going to school in Korea or America or some other place in between, but we're not going to dwell on that LOL


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